Here’s something that I just wrote for Maisonneuve‘s website. I thought I’d review Ralph Nader‘s new novel “Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us!”, but it turned out that pondering how to judge such a book was more interesting than actually judging. It’s more an essay than a review.
For the record, though, Super-Rich is a not-bad read. It’s far from perfect and way too long, but the quirks are endearing and there’s real momentum in its pages. I was actually tickled by the first heap of chapters, and pleasantly surprised overall.
Is Ralph Nader Antidemocratic?
The tireless advocate’s new novel is called “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!” Has Nader abandoned activism for enlightened dictatorship?
BRIGHT YELLOW, 733 PAGES long, and entirely made up, Ralph Nader’s new book is not his usual fare. Four decades in the public eye have involved the high-profile activist and consumer-rights advocate in over two dozen publishing ventures, but never fiction. That wasn’t, however, why the response at the Canadian stop on his autumn book tour was ambivalent, even mixed. Nor was it because members of the Economic Club of Canada, which hosted the swanky Toronto luncheon where he spoke, are particularly conservative. When Nader’s lecture ended and we turned our attention to the entrees, I asked the suit on my right what he thought. “It’s antidemocratic,” he huffed.
The novel is called “Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us!” The wry quotation marks and exclamation point are included in the title, but they do little to temper its controversial impact. No one at my table had yet read the book, and everyone thought Nader was a great guy, but some of us were uneasy. People listen to Nader because he has spent his life empowering average Americans against the super-powerful and super-rich; what was this?
In plot, “Super-Rich” is a G-rated political thriller…Keep Reading
